Overview
- Aakash Singh, a DOJ lawyer in Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office, instructed multiple U.S. attorneys to draft investigative plans into Open Society Foundations, listing potential charges including racketeering, arson, wire fraud, and material support for terrorism.
- Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing an interagency effort led by the FBI with roles for Treasury and the IRS to identify and disrupt funding networks for what the administration calls domestic political violence, including reviews of tax‑exempt status.
- Pressed for examples, Trump named Democratic donors George Soros and Reid Hoffman as possible targets for investigation without offering evidence of wrongdoing.
- Open Society Foundations said it condemns terrorism and called the reported investigations politically motivated attacks on civil society and free speech, while a DOJ spokesman defended the effort as a public‑safety priority.
- The DOJ directive drew on a Capital Research Center report alleging more than $80 million in OSF grants tied to extremism, but authorities have announced no charges and say there is no public evidence linking recent attacks to coordinated left‑wing networks.